


Adjustments

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling, Highlander: The Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-16
Updated: 2007-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some libraries were never meant to be visited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adjustments

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a pinch hit for the LJ community "crossover_hp."

"You're crazy, MacLeod."

The laughter on the other side of the phone was irritating. "Methos, you never change, do you?"

"This isn't about me," Methos growled. He was walking down a hallway in the British Museum. It had been marked Staff Only, but his alter ego Adam Pierson, the perennial graduate student, had known a few employees. It had been immensely helpful in burying any mention of his true name, and currently it was useful in allowing him some privacy. "Look, forget that I even made the request. You obviously can't help me."

"Methos, I don't think there's anything I _can_ do. I'm in Seattle, you're in London. What did you think I could possibly do?"

_Listen,_ Methos wanted to say. But he had never been sentimental or even honest about sentimentality. It had been hard enough to call the damn Scot, harder still to admit that he didn't feel any kind of purpose anymore. He couldn't be Adam Pierson anymore. Someone would notice that he wasn't getting any older. He had no interest in becoming someone new, and no interest in meeting anyone that could help him pass the time. He had no interest in anything anymore, and he had no purpose to life anymore but mere existing.

"Go back to doing whatever it is that you're doing, MacLeod," Methos finally said, irritated. "Forget it."

"Methos--"

Methos hit the disconnect button on his cell phone and then shut it off. He looked around, wondering where he had wandered off to. He couldn't recognize the hallway he was in, and nothing looked familiar. The walls were brick, and there were unmarked doors on either side of the hallway. Pulling open a door at random, Methos was surprised to find a library. He had always liked libraries. His favorite had been the one at Alexandria. Paper was all well and good, but there was something special about papyrus scrolls.

He wandered through the stacks, not recognizing any of the books on the shelves. It seemed to be full of texts about plants or objects he hadn't heard of. Methos reached for a random book, but it seemed to be stuck on the shelf. Brows furrowing, he gave a harder yank. The book refused to budge. What in the world? Methos gave it a harder yank, and it fell free of the shelf. He stumbled backward, book flying from his hand.

"Now, that's an interesting thing. I didn't think there were any horned gobberworms here."

Methos looked up at the sound of the feminine voice. He saw someone blonde bend down to pick up the book. She looked at it carefully, then smiled at him. She had soft blue eyes and a distant expression, and she was wearing earrings with carrot and feather charms. She held out a hand to help him up, and he took it. "Er... Is that yours?"

"Oh, no. No one really owns these. They merely like the company here, and allow us to open their pages once in a while. The horned gobberworms must really like living here. They're usually in deserted houses, and they're generally harmless tricksters. But since no one really visits this annex very often, I suppose it's like a deserted house."

Methos blinked at the odd girl. "Er..."

"I'm Luna Lovegood. Is there a topic that you were particularly interested in? I'm the assistant librarian here."

Methos looked at the book in her hand. The gilt lettering was in Latin, which he hadn't noticed before. _Leading a Purposeful Life._

"I think this is what I needed."

"Not too many people read Latin anymore. And are you familiar with the works of Methos?"

Methos nearly stopped breathing. "That's an odd name."

"He's one of the Horsemen, you know. Death. Quite the brilliant scholar, really. I came across a text with his name in it, and it's fascinating reading. I'm not quite sure if he was one of the literal Horsemen, but he writes very well. Also in Latin. It's two aisles over if you'd like to see it." She smiled at his gobsmacked expression. "It's all right. Not too many people know about it. The texts are rare. Even the ones here are secondhand copies of the originals. But if you like the older scholars, he is definitely the best one."

"Um..."

"Oh, but it might be odd reading your own works to make the time pass," Luna added, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should direct you to modern philosophers."

"What did you just say?" Methos couldn't believe his ears.

"It's perfectly all right if you don't want people to know. Being Death isn't an easy thing to get rid of, and people will always wonder if that's all you are."

"Luna, you said your name was?" She nodded, an absent smile on her face. Methos nearly said something cutting, about how loony she seemed, but there was no need for that. She was clearly dotty, but well meaning. "Is there a place to read?"

"Oh, of course. Right this way. It's just..." Luna smiled almost shyly. "Hardly anyone comes here anymore. Nobody really likes this library much. So you're the first patron to come by in months."

"So what do you do all day?" he asked, blinking in surprise.

"Um... Catalogue. Read. Look for good articles to write in the Quibbler. It's my father's newspaper," she supplied helpfully at his blank look. "My father knew the librarian here, so after the war ended, he hired me on to help keep things organized. But since hardly anyone ever comes, it hardly ever gets disorganized. It's awfully hard to make a mess and then clean it up."

"Why do you do it?" he blurted. He would have been ashamed of himself if he thought he might ever see her again.

"It passes the time," she replied breezily. "There's not much to do with life, and it passes by so slowly if there's nothing to do. Don't you think so?"

"Wouldn't you want a purpose?"

Luna grinned at him, a beautiful sunrise of a smile. "Oh, but this is my purpose. Only the ones that need to find us here will find us. The lost ones come here. So we help them find their way. Sometimes it's a book, sometimes it's just knowing that there's a reason for everything."

"So what's the reason?"

Luna brought him over to a reading table. "Oh, no, I can't tell you that. It's cheating. You have to find your own reasons, and your own style of living. If you can't be a Horseman any longer, then you'll have to do something else."

"Perhaps I can stay here," Methos found himself saying. He didn't even stop to wonder why at this point. She was an odd thing, but she made an odd kind of sense. In all of his over five thousand years of existence, he had never met a one as puzzling as her.

"Oh, that would be lovely. Can we discuss your treatise on warfare, then? I always found it fascinating, but no one seems to know Latin any longer."

"They're too busy learning the bastardized tongues," Methos replied.

"They're pretty." Luna took out her wand and subvocalized something. Soon enough, a pile of papyrus scrolls floated through the air and then landed on the table. "So are the older languages. I can't read all of them. That's such a pity."

"I could teach you," Methos offered. He reached out and touched the scrolls. He hadn't felt papyrus in centuries, and these were well preserved.

"This would be an adjustment," Luna said absently. "Like hiding again, but not."

Methos looked up. "I can live with that for a while."

"Good. And maybe after we talk, we can take tea. I'll show you where the living quarters are."

"Living quarters?"

"I told you. This is a special kind of library, and only the ones that need it will find it. I've been waiting for you to show up for a long time."

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's all right. Everyone comes here when they need to." Luna smiled. "Time doesn't mean much here. Take as much time as you need."

"Why are you lost?"

"It was everyone else," Luna replied softly, reaching out for a scroll. "They're all very lost now. You can't replace lost friends."

Methos suddenly realized that she meant that her friends were dead. He touched her hand gently. "You're a good soul, Luna."

She smiled at him and sat down next to him. "Maybe someday you'll believe you have one, too."

He rather doubted it, but didn't have the heart to tell her so. "Maybe."

For the first time in years, Methos looked forward to something.

 

End.


End file.
